Delaware Republicans Propose New Hurdles for Offshore Wind Developers - WBOC TV 16
Delaware Republicans Propose New Hurdles for Offshore Wind Developers | Latest News | wboc.com
OCEAN VIEW, DE - Delaware Senate Republican Leader Gerald Hocker (R-Ocean View) and Representative Ron Gray (R-Selbyville) have announced their plans to add new requirements for windfarm development off Delmarva’s coast.
According to Hocker and Gray, they intend to introduce a joint resolution that would require posting irreversible pre-construction decommissioning bonds, windfarm developers to commit to recycling or disposing decommissioned turbine parts in Maryland, and Aircraft Detection Lighting Systems be installed on any project with power lines coming to shore in Delaware.
All of these requirements would be a condition of permit approval for windfarm projects and failure to meet them would automatically nullify an existing permit, according to the lawmakers.
The planned resolution follows Governor Carney’s announcement that negotiations are underway between Delaware and US Wind regarding two planned offshore wind projects.
“The permitting process is the only way Delaware can ensure wind projects approved by other states, such as Maryland, include maximum protection for our state’s beach communities,” said Rep. Gray. “We must do all we can to protect our coastal economy and environment.”
Senator Hocker represents Delaware’s 20th Senate District and Rep. Gray represents the 28th Representative District including the areas of Selbyville, Ocean View, Bethany Beach, and Fenwick Island.
Joint resolutions require committee hearings and the governor’s signature before taking effect, the Republican lawmakers say.
WBOC reached out to Delaware’s Democratic Caucus for their reaction to the announcement, but received no response Friday.
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.